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Update #102: The Small Harvest, The White March - Part II, and Update 2.03

Starwars

Posted 30 October 2015 - 03:27 AM

Starwars

Arch-Mage

Members

3205 posts

Location:Sweden

Would be cool to see some more in-depth stuff about the making of the expansion. Many of these updates are just sort of a news post with the latest goings on which is mostly old news for those of us following the game.

It'd be nice to get some behind the scenes stuff again, though I obviously understand it demands more effort and time to do.

Messier-31

Posted 30 October 2015 - 03:30 AM

Reminder to GoG people who don't use Galaxy: You will need to install both the 2.03 patch for the base game AND the 2.03 patch for TWM for a successful update. I've just confirmed this with Brandon.

Yup. The official word from GOG is that they are unable to support having one patch for base game users and one patch for base game + expansion users. Their suggestion was to use Galaxy if possible. Unfortunately this means multiple patches for those of you that are playing the expansion on GOG with manual patches.

This is unimportant as long as you guys say clearly what has to be done in order to patch the game properly. Thx

Gairnulf

Posted 30 October 2015 - 05:31 AM

Gairnulf

Cynical Master Thief of the Obsidian Order

Members

1067 posts

Would be cool to see some more in-depth stuff about the making of the expansion. Many of these updates are just sort of a news post with the latest goings on which is mostly old news for those of us following the game.It'd be nice to get some behind the scenes stuff again, though I obviously understand it demands more effort and time to do.

BAdler

Posted 30 October 2015 - 09:24 AM

BAdler

Game Director

Developers+

-9926 posts

Location:Irvine, CA

Would be cool to see some more in-depth stuff about the making of the expansion. Many of these updates are just sort of a news post with the latest goings on which is mostly old news for those of us following the game.

It'd be nice to get some behind the scenes stuff again, though I obviously understand it demands more effort and time to do.

There is actually a different reason why the updates have slowed down when it comes to expansion content.

The White March doesn't have anywhere near the amount of new content that the base game does. This means that when we show an area or a new creature, we are actually showing a larger portion of the game to everyone. We have to keep some stuff under wraps for you guys. =)

Talking about our creation process might be more fruitful, but I am not sure what you guys may want to hear about.

BAdler

Posted 30 October 2015 - 09:32 AM

BAdler

Game Director

Developers+

-9926 posts

Location:Irvine, CA

Yep, my PoE copy updated. So, GOG can work fast when they have to

I know you were just being facetious, but to defend GOG a bit, the lag in updates is usually because we have to redeliver a build to them because of a last minute change. It causes them to have to redo their QA and patching process.

Because they are on Polish time and we are on California time it can mean a healthy lag in the updates.

Luckily we didn't have to do any last minute changes with this update so they were able to get it out a few hours after we launched on Steam.

Starwars

Posted 30 October 2015 - 09:39 AM

Starwars

Arch-Mage

Members

3205 posts

Location:Sweden

Would be cool to see some more in-depth stuff about the making of the expansion. Many of these updates are just sort of a news post with the latest goings on which is mostly old news for those of us following the game.

It'd be nice to get some behind the scenes stuff again, though I obviously understand it demands more effort and time to do.

There is actually a different reason why the updates have slowed down when it comes to expansion content.

The White March doesn't have anywhere near the amount of new content that the base game does. This means that when we show an area or a new creature, we are actually showing a larger portion of the game to everyone. We have to keep some stuff under wraps for you guys. =)

Talking about our creation process might be more fruitful, but I am not sure what you guys may want to hear about.

What suggestions would you have for future updates?

Yeah, I definitely understand that. Personally I'd be happy with just a video where one talks a bit about... I dunno, the sorta initial brainstorming perhaps, if there's a particular design goal for that part of the expansion, any particular things the team wanted to improve upon and why and so forth.

I don't really need any super in-depth stuff (like you say, I want to be unspoiled) but it'd just be great to have a very "high level design talk" without going into specifics too much. Maybe talk with Justin Bell to see what he wants to accomplish with the score, the artists discussing how they've improved... and so on and so forth.

BAdler

Posted 30 October 2015 - 09:48 AM

BAdler

Game Director

Developers+

-9926 posts

Location:Irvine, CA

Would be cool to see some more in-depth stuff about the making of the expansion. Many of these updates are just sort of a news post with the latest goings on which is mostly old news for those of us following the game.

It'd be nice to get some behind the scenes stuff again, though I obviously understand it demands more effort and time to do.

There is actually a different reason why the updates have slowed down when it comes to expansion content.

The White March doesn't have anywhere near the amount of new content that the base game does. This means that when we show an area or a new creature, we are actually showing a larger portion of the game to everyone. We have to keep some stuff under wraps for you guys. =)

Talking about our creation process might be more fruitful, but I am not sure what you guys may want to hear about.

What suggestions would you have for future updates?

Yeah, I definitely understand that. Personally I'd be happy with just a video where one talks a bit about... I dunno, the sorta initial brainstorming perhaps, if there's a particular design goal for that part of the expansion, any particular things the team wanted to improve upon and why and so forth.

I don't really need any super in-depth stuff (like you say, I want to be unspoiled) but it'd just be great to have a very "high level design talk" without going into specifics too much. Maybe talk with Justin Bell to see what he wants to accomplish with the score, the artists discussing how they've improved... and so on and so forth.

Gairnulf

Posted 30 October 2015 - 10:03 AM

Gairnulf

Cynical Master Thief of the Obsidian Order

Members

1067 posts

Yep, my PoE copy updated. So, GOG can work fast when they have to

I know you were just being facetious, but to defend GOG a bit, the lag in updates is usually because we have to redeliver a build to them because of a last minute change. It causes them to have to redo their QA and patching process.

Because they are on Polish time and we are on California time it can mean a healthy lag in the updates.

Luckily we didn't have to do any last minute changes with this update so they were able to get it out a few hours after we launched on Steam.

Thanks, that's interesting to know.

Regarding questions on TWM2 - I'm really interested in how your process of preparing combat encounters for the player has evolved. I'm sure I saw a big improvement in that aspect once I entered TWM's areas. Enemies' actions seem more varied, they use abilities, form a back line/front line. I'd be curious to hear more about the process, and if it's all down to the AI or is there some custom scripting involved for some encounters.

In addition, I saw a return of a practice I remember from the BG games, of giving context to combat encounter through the area's design, so that it's not just a bunch of enemies placed in a room. It's small things like that, that really improve my experience. I mean things like enemies chatting just prior to noticing the player and switching to combat mode, etc. So, how come this trend started in TWM? Was it due to you guys being able to devote more time to details like this, was it something you noticed was lacking in the game so it became a policy to additionally flesh out encounters?

Finally, regarding areas and dungeons. Knowing that Cilant Lis was among the last areas you did, and seeing it's one of the best in the game, I had high hopes for the area design in TWM, and this expectation was certainly confirmed. How did your process improve, tell us about the lessons you learned from working on the base game.

MaxwellBlackjackEsq

Posted 30 October 2015 - 02:46 PM

MaxwellBlackjackEsq

(0) Nub

Initiates

1 posts

First time posting, I really liked the short story. I'm a published author myself and a big PoE fan. Have you thought about a short story contest among the fans? I'd enjoy writing one and would do so if there was a chance it could be canon so I can convince myself I'm actually not writing fan fiction.